Review: Knight's Fork by Rowena Cherry

Rowena Cherry's Knight's Fork is a futuristic romance that mixes humor, satire and romance, to parody the typical romance novel. With lines such as "[I] am not plunging. Not thrusting. And certainly not muff diving," this knight is known for his virtue. He always thinks before he leaps, mostly, well, he gives himself a good debate anyhow. Djarrhet, also known as 'Rhett, is a member of the Djinn family. He is able to read minds and apparently isn't too bad with his sword. He has been approached, asked, to give his sperm to Electra, so that she can produce an heir, as her Mate King Viz-Igerd has troubles getting her pregnant.

Electra does not want to have an affair due to the threats of High Treason and war; she hopes to simply have his sperm in order to keep away talk of her Mate's inability. She chooses 'Rhett because he has the same eye color as her Mate's, she feels can trust him, and he is not too closely related to her.'Rhett and Electra are eventually forced together when 'Rhett has to make a trip to Earth. Viz-Igerd is under the impression that they have intentionally run away together. Thus the threat of war comes even closer.

In chess, a fork is a tactic that uses one piece to attack two or more of the opponent's pieces at the same time, hoping to achieve material gain (by capturing one of the opponent's pieces) because the opponent can only counter one of the two (or more) threats. The piece moving to make the multiple attack on the opponent's pieces is the forking piece. The opponent's pieces which are attacked by the forking piece are ones which are forked. The type of fork is commonly named after the type of forking piece. For example, in a knight fork, a knight moves to attack two or more opponent's pieces in the same move. Any type of piece may perform a fork, including a king, and any type of piece can be forked. Knights are often used for forks; they jump to a position where they simultaneously attack two pieces and cannot be counterattacked. The knight's fork is an impossible situation where you can only save one of two threatened pieces. I will let the reader see how this situation plays out, and if 'Rhett is the virtuous knight he says he is.

Cherry's humor is very witty and tongue-in-cheek, and requires a very delicate palate from her readers; but, she serves a brand of humor that everyone will enjoy! Her characters are very relatable as well, making her book that much more enjoyable. Cherry writes "racy, wildly entertaining futuristic romance" according to Writers Write. She says, "It’s my pleasure to pen Romances with Aliens.... the aliens are gods from outer space." Her books are somewhere in the gamut of Romance from fantasy to science fiction.

Her goal as an author is to give good value (not a fast read…the plot isn’t the point because we all know that in Romance the hero is going to end up happily with the heroine). She writes to entertain: and expects to provide her readers with six to eight hours of amusement, a couple of really good laughs, a romantic frisson or two from the sensual scenes, something to think about when the book is finished, and possibly some useful information.